Property owner slapped with colossal fine after altering riverbank without permission: 'Measures must be taken'

A property owner on Vancouver Island was handed a $60,000 fine for altering a riverbank that was part of a salmon habitat without proper permissions, as Victoria Buzz reported.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada found the damage to the Trent River on the property of David Tingley in May 2020. The Trent River is a vital habitat for salmon. Tingley was given a month to fix the damage but failed to do so, incurring a $60,000 fine.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said that Tingley had failed "to correct work that he had done illegally on his property, that affected fish and fish habitat on the Trent River," though it did not provide specific details about the type of work along the river, such as whether Tingley built any structures or changed the shape of the riverbank.

"Protecting fish and fish habit is vital to help sustain and support Canada's precious marine species," the DFO wrote. "Under Canada's Fisheries Act, measures must be taken to avoid causing the death of fish and any harmful alteration, disruption, or destruction of fish habitat when conducting any work or activities in or near water."

Salmon are vital to the ecosystem. According to the Wild Salmon Center, at least 137 species rely on salmon for food. To humans, salmon have been a source of food and identity for as long as Native populations have lived in the area. Salmon are also a vital business in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, contributing $3 billion to the industry and tens of thousands of jobs.

However, salmon populations are declining because of logging, dams, and overfishing, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Other factors, such as pharmaceutical pollution and rising water temperatures, have affected salmon behavior, decreasing their reproductive cycles and lowering their presence in the food chain. Protected, clean waterways help ensure salmon populations stay healthy and can reproduce to maintain ecosystems, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration revealed.

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This isn't the first instance of a fine charged against property owners that affected salmon in the area. A B.C. man was fined $70,000 for dredging a creek, which led to a decline in the local salmon population.

With fines, the DFO is able to carry out its mission of protecting the salmon populations of the Trent River and beyond. The money will go toward "the Environmental Damages Fund for the conservation and protection of salmon and salmon habitat in the Vancouver Island region," the agency's statement said.

Conservation efforts have helped salmon populations all over the world. In England, salmon were able to spawn in one area after the removal of a dam. In Ireland, a revolutionary machine that allows 100 million salmon to travel across a previously impassible area was installed after successful testing in the United States and Canada.

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